At sticker I'd pick your preference of Penn or NU. Sticker is going to require you to take biglaw wherever you can get it. That means you need to be willing to take NYC biglaw in the case that you strike out of LA biglaw. Penn/NU are going to give you a better shot in NYC than UCLA would. I don't think there is a significant difference in LA biglaw placement for someone from LA for these schools. Even if UCLA had a small advantage, it wouldn't be worth the corresponding disadvantage in NYC.

ETA: Wait is this hypothetical? If so then come back if/when you actually get into these schools at those prices.

bk1 wrote:At sticker I'd pick your preference of Penn or NU. Sticker is going to require you to take biglaw wherever you can get it. That means you need to be willing to take NYC biglaw in the case that you strike out of LA biglaw. Penn/NU are going to give you a better shot in NYC than UCLA would. I don't think there is a significant difference in LA biglaw placement for someone from LA for these schools. Even if UCLA had a small advantage, it wouldn't be worth the corresponding disadvantage in NYC.

This. I would also look seriously at NU in this case. Penn gives you a somewhat better overall shot at big law, but NU actually has a ton of people from the west coast and a lot of west coast employers at OCI.

bk1 wrote:At sticker I'd pick your preference of Penn or NU. Sticker is going to require you to take biglaw wherever you can get it. That means you need to be willing to take NYC biglaw in the case that you strike out of LA biglaw. Penn/NU are going to give you a better shot in NYC than UCLA would. I don't think there is a significant difference in LA biglaw placement for someone from LA for these schools. Even if UCLA had a small advantage, it wouldn't be worth the corresponding disadvantage in NYC.

ETA: Wait is this hypothetical? If so then come back if/when you actually get into these schools at those prices.

bk1 wrote:At sticker I'd pick your preference of Penn or NU. Sticker is going to require you to take biglaw wherever you can get it. That means you need to be willing to take NYC biglaw in the case that you strike out of LA biglaw. Penn/NU are going to give you a better shot in NYC than UCLA would. I don't think there is a significant difference in LA biglaw placement for someone from LA for these schools. Even if UCLA had a small advantage, it wouldn't be worth the corresponding disadvantage in NYC.

ETA: Wait is this hypothetical? If so then come back if/when you actually get into these schools at those prices.

So for LA Biglaw there isn't much a difference between the 3?

If you've got LA ties, then there probably isn't a substantial difference. However, LA doesn't have a lot of legal jobs right now. If you find yourself at median or below after 1L, you would probably want the flexibility to bid NYC.